The other day one of my hubs’ bandmates was hanging out at our apartment. We were just shooting the shit about whatever, as we usually do when he asked me a question that almost caught me by surprise.
He asked me: do you write every day?
It took me a second to realize that he was being serious. He seriously wanted to know if I write every day.
Once I got over the initial shock of the question, I responded by saying, of course, I write every day, I’m a writer.
But then I took a step back from the question and realized that the reason he asked me that is because most writers don’t write every day. In fact, many people who call themselves writers rarely actually do any writing.
Sure, they think about writing and they talk about writing and once in a while they may even sit in a chair and type some words out.
But it’s not a regular thing. They don’t have a routine or a habit of writing every day.
And they even tell themselves that they don’t have to write every day. That writing every day isn’t a prerequisite to being successful.
That may be true, in theory. I suppose you can be a successful writer and not write every day.
But the question I have isn’t do you write every day… it’s how can you call yourself a writer and not write every day?
If a basketball player only plays one day a month, can he still call himself a basketball player? If a musician only picks up her guitar when she feels like it, can she really call herself a musician? If an artist only paints when she has the time, is she really an artist?
I mean, again, maybe. In theory, you can call yourself anything you want.
But what I can’t understand is being a writer, or a basketball player or musician or artist, and not writing or doing something related to your craft every day.
Maybe it’s just me, but honestly, I write every day because I can’t not. Because on the days when I don’t write I feel like shit and I get annoyed and resentful and can’t deal with life.
For me, writing every day is therapy (and much cheaper too!). It’s my way of exorcising all the nonsense going on in my head. It’s how I make sense of life and how I keep my mind clear and focused and ready to be creative at a moment’s notice.
There is no other way for me.
I have to write something every single day. Even if it’s just a blog post or a post on social media or even just in my journal in the morning.
But I have to write. I can’t not.
If I don’t write, I have no purpose.
A bit dramatic? Maybe. But that’s how I feel. For me, writing is like breathing. And when I don’t write, I feel like I can’t breathe.
But if you’re not living the writing life, if you’re not all-in on doing the work, that could be a big reason why you struggle in your life, in more areas than just writing.
You can’t be born to write and know that you’re a writer and feel called inside to puts words on the page and then not do it. And if you avoid your writing, knowing full well that you’re born to do it and feeling all these things inside–stories and messages and ideas–and leaving them unexpressed, you can’t expect anything else in your life to go well either.
Because you’re not doing your soul work, the one thing you came here to do.
And you can’t avoid your soul work and expect your life to work. It can’t and it won’t.
Avoiding your soul work is the thing that actually STOPS everything else from working.
Whenever I find myself struggling with something, like money or a project, etc., the first thing I do is ask myself: have I been doing my soul work lately? And if I’m struggling, I can almost guarantee that nine times out of 10 I haven’t been.
Because when I do my soul work every day, my life works. Things flow. Money is easy. Projects get finished with no problem.
But the second I stop doing my soul work–and then the second that stopping becomes a habit–everything in my life falls apart. I struggle again.
And all of it can be fixed by just committing to showing up and writing every day.
It’s so simple it almost feels ridiculous. But it’s true nonetheless.
Doing your soul work makes your life work.
Dream life or bust,
#DreamLifeOrBust #DailyThinkDifferent
I absolutely agree – But the second I stop doing my soul work–and then the second that stopping becomes a habit–everything in my life falls apart. I struggle again. And all of it can be fixed by just committing to showing up and writing every day.
Beautifully written 🙂 Thanks.
I also wrote about my journey as a writer, how I developed a daily writing habit, and a few tips that have worked for me to minimize distraction. Do visit my website and check out the article.
Let me know if you like it 🙂